


A Dash of Night

by DawnsEternalLight



Category: Batman (Comics), Batman and Robin (Comics), DCU (Comics)
Genre: Bonding, Crack, Fluff, Gen, The monster under the bed was Damian all along, and be a kid, honestly this is just an excuse to have Damian play pretend
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-16
Updated: 2018-03-16
Packaged: 2019-04-01 05:52:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,936
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13991850
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DawnsEternalLight/pseuds/DawnsEternalLight
Summary: Damian has a unique way of making sure Dick stays safe after they prank Jason.





	A Dash of Night

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Splash of Pink](https://archiveofourown.org/works/11363547) by [CamsthiSky](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CamsthiSky/pseuds/CamsthiSky). 



> Inspired by a late night giggle fest over "Hush, Richard. I am the night." with Cam.

“Perfect.” Grayson said, as he stepped back away from his handiwork and capped the marker in his hand. Damian finally got a good look at what his brother had been working on and grinned. They had already painted Todd’s helmet pink, but Grayson had added little white flowers across the top of it, imitating a flower crown.

“This was the last one?” Damian asked, picking up the helmet to turn it around, Grayson’s flowers were little more than daisy scribbles, but they added a certain charm to the helmet. He stepped away from the table and moved to Todd’s bed settling the helmet in it’s spot at the center of a line of similarly painted ones crossing the comforter.

His brother nodded, “We got the spares down in the cave. I did the one he’s got at his safe house, and you took the ones from his apartment. The one in here was supposed to be last so we didn’t have to lug it around.”

“Excellent. Then we can be done for the night and finish--” Damian couldn’t stop himself from yawning, their victory not enough to ward off the need for sleep creeping over him. They had used their night off patrol to systematically find and take all of Todd’s helmets, paint them, and line them up for Todd to see when he got back. He’d had to go out on patrol in just a domino after Damian managed to sneak the one he’d been planning on using too close to time for them to leave. Running around Gotham and pulling off perfect pranks was tiring and Damian was ready for bed.

“We can finish preparing for the prank on Tim tomorrow.” Grayson finished for him. He was still grinning at the bed, “Before we leave, take a picture of me with the helmets. We need proof this happened.” He handed Damian his phone and hurried to the bed, where he laid down behind the helmets, propping his head on one hand and posing like he was at the beach instead of in his brother’s room.

Damian rolled his eyes but took a series of photos, knowing Grayson would delete half of them and keep the ones he liked best. “Now can we go?” Damian asked.

“Course, kiddo. I don’t want to keep you up too late on a night you actually get to sleep.” Grayson said, standing. He balanced for a moment on the bed, then winked at Damian before flipping off the side. It would have been a perfect landing if he’d actually bothered to check where he was going before flipping. But he hadn’t, so when he landed his foot caught on the leg of Jason’s chair and he tumbled to the ground landing with an oomph.

Damian’s heart jumped into his throat, shorter falls could still be as dangerous as high ones depending on the situation. He ran over to his brother and knelt beside him as Grayson sat up. He gave Damian a sheepish grin.

“I should look before I leap next time.”

“Tt. Are you alright?”

“Right as rain.” Grayson said, pulling himself to his feet with the help of the table beside him.

Damian scrambled to stand, and only just managed to catch Dick as he stumbled, eyes squeezed shut for a second.

“Maybe not totally right as rain. I think I twisted my ankle. Or bruised it. Or something. Stupid chair.”

“Sit down, I will examine it.” Damian said, and stepped to help Grayson sit in the chair that had been the cause of his accident.

His brother shook his head, “Let’s just get back to my room. I’m sure it’ll stop hurting in a minute. I can’t have done that much damage.”

Damian frowned, but didn’t push the point. He could take as good a look at Grayson’s ankle in his room as he could in Todd’s. They left slowly, Grayson using Damian as a sort of crutch and support. Damian hoped that Grayson was right and his foot would work itself out as they moved. It did not. Instead Grayson seemed to lean heavier on him the further they got down the hall.

“Ow. Ow ow owowow owww.” Grayson said, as he and Damian completed their hobble into the bedroom, and as Damian helped him sit on his bed.

“Now will you let me examine your injury?” Damian huffed.

“Yeah. That’s probably a good idea.” Dick said, sighing. “Sorry.”

Damian hummed a response and lifted Grayson’s foot to look at it. His fingers gently pressing into the ankle, and around it, searching for swelling or breakage. “You seem fine. It is probably a minor twist or bruise. But you should stay off it the rest of the night.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Dick said, and let himself fall back against the covers. “You headed to bed?” he asked sitting up just enough to look at Damian.

Damian shook his head, “You are injured, and unable to defend yourself when Todd figures out what we’ve done.”

“I think I’ll be safe for one night, Damian.” Grayson grinned at him.

“Don’t be stupid. This will mean war. He and Drake pranked us, we are pranking them back. There is no promise that he will not retaliate immediately.” Damian crossed his arms.

He could not leave Grayson on his own if Todd did decide to fight back. But the last time they had been pranked Damian had been caught completely unaware of what was going on. He could not allow that to happen this time. Grayson would need to sleep for his ankle, so Damian must be on the defensive. Todd would not expect Damian to hide in Grayson’s room, and the proper place should theoretically be uncomfortable enough to keep Damian awake all night.

“I will stay.” Damian said, “Rest and do not worry about me, I will be prepared for whatever Todd decides to throw at us. ” Without waiting for Grayson’s response Damian crouched down and crawled under his brother’s bed. He adjusted himself so he had a perfect view out from it, but was still hidden enough in the shadows that Todd would not see him if he came in.

“Damian what the? What are you doing?” Damian heard the bed creak as Grayson leaned over the edge to peer down at him.

“Isn’t it obvious? I can protect you best from down here.” Damian told him.

“You can’t spend the night under my bed, Damian. Come back out and sit on the chair or something.”

Damian shook his head, his hair brushing against the underside of the bed, “I have researched the best hiding places in every room in the manor. This is the optimal location for both seeing Todd enter, and for felling him before he can take his revenge. You will not change my mind about this, Grayson.”

Grayson’s face was starting to turn red from sitting almost upside down, “We need to have a talk about privacy and emergency planning tomorrow, because wow, Damian. But, if you're sure that’s how you want to spend your night, I won’t argue.”

With that he disappeared from Damian’s view and the bed shifted above him as Damian assumed his brother had laid back down. Then the bed moved again as Grayson leaned back down, “Hey? Does that make you the thing that goes bump in the night?” he asked, grinning.

Damian rolled his eyes.

Grayson’s smile got bigger, “What are you going to do? Bite Jason’s ankle?”

“Hush, Richard. I am the night.” Damian hissed, “Do not question my methods and go to sleep.”

“Alright, alright.” Grayson laid back down again and the light in the room switched off dropping Damian into complete darkness.

They sat that way in silence for a few minutes before Grayson started talking again.

“Guess what I saw today? A duck. I was down by that park you like to take Titus to and I saw it there hanging out. You’ll never believe what it was--”

“You are supposed to be sleeping.” Damian said, “Not chattering like a chipmunk.”

“I can’t help it. You know that. I’ll probably talk until I pass out.”

“Tt.”

“Anyway, back to the duck. I see it and it’s not in the lake or anything but just chilling on a park bench. He was sitting there enjoying some sun and the day. It didn’t seem like anything was going to bother him, even as people jogged past, and dogs stopped to wonder at the duck on the bench.” he paused for a second and Damian thought that might have been the end of it, then Dick continued, “Hey, does the night need a blanket? I bet it’s kind of cold down there.”

Damian huffed, “I am not cold, besides it would hamper me if I needed to move quickly.”

He was actually starting to get a little cold. The floor wasn’t the best place to sit long term and Damian had been planning on going to bed, not camping out under one. So he wasn’t really as prepared as he’d like to be. Still, he was right. The blanket would be a hindrance. And he needed to be at his best if he was going to keep Grayson safe.

“Okay. If you think that’s best.”  

Damian listened to his brother continue to talk about the duck, approaching it and getting chased away. Then about his lunch with Barbara. Through it he felt pressure building in his head, behind his eyes and in his nose.

The sneeze caught him almost by surprise with it’s ferocity, shaking him so that he bumped his head. He rubbed the spot, irritated at himself and the bed.  

It took Grayson an entire second after the sneeze before he asked, “How about that blanket?”

Damian sniffed, “Perhaps I will take it.”

“Great. Do you mind coming out to get it? I can’t really get up, and I don’t want to just drop it on the ground.”

“That should be fine.” Damian said. He considered asking Grayson for one of his pillows as he crawled out. It was slightly cramped under the bed and his elbows would benefit from something soft.

He stood, stretching for a moment before thrusting his hand out towards Grayson, “Alright, I’m up.”

Damian felt a hand take his a moment before Grayson pulled him forward, making him tumble onto the bed in an undignified heap across his brother.

“Richard!” Damian cried as he attempted to squirm away and get off the bed.

His brother was too big, and Damian too small to fight him and avoid hurting him. Somehow Grayson managed to maneuver Damian over and under the covers before dragging him close.

“You can protect me just as well from here.” Grayson said, “Bruce would kill me if I let you catch a cold on the night you were supposed to be resting.”

Damian knew it was a losing fight. He was too tired, and Grayson was warm, the bed soft, and he was right. Damian could take out Todd just as well from on the bed as he could under it.

“I cannot bite his ankles here.” Damian yawned.

“Well.” Grayson said, letting his chin rest on Damian’s head, “I guess you’ll just have to think of something else.”

Damian curled a bit closer to his brother and found a comfortable place for his head against Grayson’s shoulder, “I guess I will.” he said, smiling, “Now--” he yawned again, “Sleep, Richard. I can handle things.”

“I know you can.” Grayson’s voice was quiet, and far off. Or maybe Damian was just finally falling asleep.


End file.
